Logan Heagerty BA’23, MBA’24 grew up watching his father, a lifelong inventor, bring his prototypes to different companies in good faith, hoping they would purchase the rights to his products. Instead, he would often find imitations of his inventions on store shelves. When a medical condition made it hard for him to stand up independently, Logan’s father realized that the lift chairs on the market did not meet his non-debilitating need. So, he invented a revolutionary design for a lift chair that is completely portable and non-electric.
But it took Assistant Professor of Strategic Management Anusha Ramesh’s Developing New Ventures course to help Heagerty recognize the potential of a business using his father’s groundbreaking design.
With their patent-pending product, Heagerty and his father plan to structure their business in a direct-to-consumer and e-commerce model. “Anyone will be able to buy one. Once it’s out there in the market, we plan on having reiterations based on consumer feedback, and our main goal is to get an iteration of them into hospitals,” Heagerty says.
At the end of Ramesh’s course, students had the opportunity to present their company to a board that included David Smith, a director and board member of TiE University’s Oregon chapter. Smith encouraged Heagerty to pitch his idea to the non-profit community of entrepreneurs and pursue the turnkey legal package, cash prizes, and mentorship they offer. Recently, Heagerty earned second place in TiE Oregon’s competition and will represent Willamette in InventOR’s competition.
“This project means everything to me, and my MBA classes have given me the leverage to work on this personal undertaking,” Heagerty continues. “A large value of Willamette’s MBA is the ability to tackle marketing, operations, finance, and more, and when you start your own business, it’s essential to do all of them well.”
Heagerty, who earned his BA in Japanese Studies and graduated in May 2024 with his MBA as part of Willamette’s 3+2 BA/MBA Program, was drawn to entrepreneurship as soon as he began pursuing his degree. Working with Willamette’s Angel Investing Fund, the first student-run angel investment initiative in the country, Heagerty learned the ins and outs of sourcing deals and conducting due diligence. He even had the opportunity to invest in a startup this year with his classmates.
Outside the classroom, Heagerty served as the President of the Atkinson Strategy & Consulting Association and led the effort to help the Bistro have leaner operations, fewer expenses, and better product offerings.
“My story with Willamette is also very personal. My stepdad, Randy Williams, was a Willamette maintenance worker until he passed away in 2020. The school has a memorial tree for him right outside Goudy Commons that quotes, ‘A life that touches others lives on forever.’”
“His employment opened up an opportunity for an education that I may not have been able to pursue otherwise. I’m actually the first person in my family to finish college. I am blessed to be doing what I am today with the support of so many of those in my life and in the Willamette community around me.”
